The Price

The Price
Written by Jeffrey Bell
Directed by Michael Grossman

Original Airdate: April 29, 2002

Plot: Anya returns to town with her vengeance demons power restored, looking to exact her revenge on Xander. Buffy attempts to re-connect with Dawn in her desire to avoid Spike, who keeps threatening to tell everyone the exact nature of their relationship. Willow tries to re-establish her relationship with Tara over coffee. Meanwhile, Jonathan, Andrew and Warren continue to set their master plan in motion...

Review

Warning: If your wish is to avoid SPOILERS for the latest episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "Entropy" then I strongly suggest you turn back now. There are major SPOILERS just ahead...

In short: A nice return from a long break.

The dictionary defines entropy as "inevitable and steady deterioration of a system or a society" and "a measure of the loss of information in a transmitted message." Both of these definitions fit the latest episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "Entropy" to a tee. DAll season long, we've watched each of the three members of the Scooby gang see significant relationships around them slowly but inevitably deteriorate. Willow was first when her lust for magic robbed her of the one thing she truly did love--Tara. Then there is Buffy who, after Riley left, swore off relationships, feeling a need to work on herself and be content with who she was. None of this lasted very long as she quickly jumped into a physical relationship with Spike that wasn't built on love or trust but on merely making herself feel better. Then we had Xander, who was in love with Anya the ex-vengeance demon who made his heart skip a beat. Xander hastily proposed marriage, assuming the world would end with Glory took over and was then stuck with the realization that he wasn't ready to be Anya's husband just yet.

Along the way, none of the three original members of the Scooby gang have been able to make easy choices, but they have made them. They're becoming adults and must deal with their actions and the consequences of them. And unfortunately for them, entropy is a huge part of the ending of any relationship.

Xander, of course, feels awful for what he's done to Anya and realizes he's made a mistake. He wants things to be restored to the way they were before they got engaged. Xander, while the most mature of the Scooby gang members in the ways the world would see--supporting himself, engaged to be married, etc.--is the one who is still fundamentally the most immature. Xander has crossed some bridges he can't go back from and no amount of wanting to change what's happened will make it so. The scenes between Xander and Anya about the amount of pain they have caused each other each rang absolutely true. Xander wants things to be like they always were and Anya wants to understand why he did this to her. Since her first appearance, Anya has tried to understand what it is about human beings that makes us all so wacky and fun. She's experienced death and grief from that. Now she is experiencing grief on a whole new level.

Both Xander and Anya are being selfish in their grief. They want their pain to be the overriding thing. Xander wants his pain to go away by having Anya forgive him and take him back. Anya wants her pain to go away by making Xander suffer. The scenes with the Buffy really hit this home. Buffy is clearly trying to be neutral and supportive to both friends, but neither side sees it this way. Anya lashes out that everyone loves Xander and sees his side while Xander gets frustrated and kills an innocent lawn gnome.

Meanwhile, you have Buffy and Spike, who are in the final stages of what can only be referred to as a bad break-up. It's apparent that Spike has some deep feelings for Buffy--and whether or not their genuine or a by-product of his chip, I will leave open to debate--and that Buffy while physically attracted to Spike, doesn't have the same love for him. And she's honest enough with herself and Spike to admit it--though not honest enough to admit it to her closest friends. (It's interesting to note that Tara, a relative outsider in terms of not being part of the original three of the Scooby gang is the only one who knows what's going on between Buffy and Spike). Seeing Spike's constant threats to expose her secret is nice, but you almost get the feeling Buffy felt he was bluffing to get her back into bed. It's nice to see Spike finally call her bluff at the exact moment when it can to the most damage. We saw earlier this year that Spike is a great poker player and he certain knew when to show his cards here.

Another relationship that is experiencing entropy is the Buffy and Dawn relationship. After being close in all of season five, they have been slowly pulled apart--even to the point that Buffy tried to kill Dawn and all of her friends the last time we saw them. Seeing Buffy have a lot of guilt and try to remedy it by overcompensating in the time spent with Dawn department worked well. Also, seeing Buffy not want Dawn to enter certain areas of her life--namely anywhere they could interact with Spike worked extremely well. The scene with Buffy and Dawn in the kitchen and the huge piles of breakfast food worked on so many levels and it was honestly nice to see Michelle Trachtenberg get to expand beyond just being "bratty Dawn" as she has been all year.

But, just as some of the relationship are breaking down, others are coming together. Willow and Tara began the first baby-steps toward reunion. I've said it before and I'll say it again--the depth of this relationship continues to amaze me. Both actresses did a superb job throughout--from the initial awkward banter to the coffee to the final scene with the reconciliation. It's nice to see that in a show where every other relationship is on the rocks, that there can be two people who find happiness--no matter how briefly (this is Sunnydale where a happy relationship can last exactly one episode!) The scene at the end when Tara comes to Willow and wants to skip all reconciliation rituals and get back to having a relationship with the woman she loves was superbly done and had a genuine emotional resonance to it. I will beat a dead horse by saying that Allyson Hannigan deserves an Emmy nod, but I doubt that she will get one. ::sigh::

But the other definition of entropy also fits here--namely that there was information loss in the transmission of a message.

All of these various plotlines came together in an interesting way. Spike and Anya turn to each other as the outsiders of the group, those on the outside looking in. They have been scorned and hurt by people in the gang and when the Scooby gang circles the wagons--as they see it, they are left out. So they turn to each other. Their tryst is nothing more than that--just two people coming together for a one-time thing. And you could see that just mere moments after it was over, they both realized it. The awkwardness that we saw as they dressed was a perfect counterbalance to the sheer lust they exhibited as Spike takes Anya on the table in the Magic Box. It's interesting that they would choose to use the table as their place to have sex. The table is where the Scooby gang sits together and generates ideas. It's the place where they work best as a group and are the strongest and to desecrate it so is an interesting choice.

Of course, tuning into this little scene are Willow, Xander and Buffy--all of whom miss what's going on. Each interprets the events through his or her own situation. Xander feels Anya is getting back at him and trying to make him feel something, Buffy assumes Spike is no better than she thought--he will take whatever he can, whenever. He will manipulate the situation to get what he wants--in this case sex. Buffy retreats to the outside--ironically to the back yard where Spike comforted her in last year's "Fool for Love" and Xander does what most guys would do--gets a weapon and goes hunting. It all leads to the can't miss scene of the episode with Xander beating Spike up and begging him to fight and the full gamut of emotions coming out.

It's ironic that in the past four episodes that Nikolas Brendon has been given more significant work to do than he really has since season three's "The Zeppo." And I say welcome back Nikolas. Here we saw just how great an actor he is and what a huge asset he is to the show. His dark intensity reminded me of the Xander we saw in "The Pack" all the way back in season one.

And the revelations that come out should have some interesting consequences. Xander now knows that Buffy slept with Spike as does Dawn. And Xander is horrified and revolted by this. Two of the women he cares about most have been intimate with the one person he dislikes most in the world. That has got to hurt. It almost echoes what Willow said to Xander way back in "Innocence" about Xander would rather be with someone he hated than someone who loved him. I wonder if that statement came back to haunt Xander now that the shoe is on the other foot.

The last argument outside the Magic Box was a thing of beauty and superbly written, acted and directed. It's moments like that that re-instill my faith in Buffy as one of TV's truly great shows--even as we get to the end of season six.

But there was more going on as well.

Once again, we got a glimpse at the deterioration of the Nerd Herd. Seeing the level of mistrust that is building between them and Jonathan's growing conscience was nicely done. Also, seeing the extent of how far their monitoring system goes was interesting. And my big question coming out of this--did Willow find out where they were and if not, why wasn't that the first thing she traced? These guys are being more than (to quote Buffy) "a pain my ass." They have reached new levels and there's something going on. I have a feeling we're about to see it all kicked up a notch in the next few weeks and I can't wait to see Buffy go toe-to-toe with a real human foe.

And their comments about Spike being so cool because he was having sex with Anya was an absolute riot.

So, overall, I've got to admit I liked "Entropy" a lot. It was a good return from the dark time that is the endless repeats between February and May sweeps that it seems we, as Buffy fans, are going to suffer each year. I have a feeling a lot of things are being setting up for the final run of episodes and I can't wait to see how season six comes out.

So, that's about it for now, except a few small things...

--The scenes with Dawn and Buffy at the mall were nice--especially the number of stores Dawn couldn't go in.

--Did anyone sort of hope that when we saw Xander sitting there and drinking at the beginning that he'd be listening to "I Fall to Pieces"? How great would that have been? (Think back to season one's "Prophecy Girl").

--I really liked the Nerd Herd's sniping with each other--especially Jonathan's crack to Warren about killing his ex-girlfriend.

Well, that's about it for now. Thankfully, Entropy was a great episode that was enjoyable on a lot of levels. I have a feeling that things may only get better from her though...

My rating: 9.0 (out of 10.0)

Next up: It's Buffy vs. the Nerd Herd...

"It was good enough for Buffy...."

--Spike